The hour was late as the sun began it's descent from the sky. Everything was routine as normal except for the Warden that approached the doors to the Canterlot throne room. Guards that stood watch did nothing as the Warden had a sufficient rank to enter undeterred. With a mighty push the doors gave way to reveal the hall's grandeur. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood by the thrones, discussing something undoubtedly important.

The sun princess had taken notice of the Warden's presence and wondered why he was here. Usually the Warden never visits the throne room because he's always preoccupied with his work in the dungeons. It was then that Celestia realized something was wrong with him as his eyes were unfocused and strides uneven. Even as the matriarch approached her concerns grew when she heard the Warden speaking to himself like a crazy pony.

"Warden? Are you alright?" Celestia inquired. The pony in question did not stop his advance until he was uncomfortably close to the sun princess. Upon closer inspection she could she his fur was severely matted and reeked of a horrible stench that nearly bowled her over. Crimson liquid dripped down one of the Warden's legs until it splattered on the finely buffed marble floors. That smell was undeniable now, it was blood. Before anypony could react the Warden raised one of his front hooves in the air and brought it down upon Celestia.

THWACK!

A thudding sound rang out as Celestia recoiled in shock. She sat there in disbelief that one of her subjects and guardspony had actually struck her. Other guards quickly charged the warden until he was firmly pin on the floor where he once stood. Princess Luna had the poorest reaction out of everypony present. She screamed with rage and writhed with unmatched fury. If it was not for Celestia coming to her senses then Luna probably would have gored the offender. Shackles were quickly clamped on all over the Warden, effectively restraining him or protecting him from Luna depending on the point of view.

"Heheheheheheheheheh! Hahahahahahahahahah!" An ominous voice came forth from the Warden. His voice sounded as if he had a swarm of insects buzzing around his voice box which was rather unnerving to all present. "Such a pretty face ya have there Princess! It's such a shame that Ah didn't have more time to mess it up!"

"SILENCE KNAVE! THOU HAVE COMMITTED HIGH TREASON FOR LAYING A HOOF UPON OUR SISTER!" Luna shouted in her thundering canterlot voice.

Luna's outburst caused many ponies present to cringe but the Warden did not. In fact it just made him smile so terribly that it unnerved Celestia further. Plus those unfocused eyes of his was not helping either. The Warden turned his attention to Luna and addressed her. "Oh don't worry princess. Ah'm sure mah master has big plans for ya too."

"your master?" Celestia inquired.

"Why yes mah master! Ya should know him since he is one of your guests. In fact, he's so upset at y'alls hospitality he's checking out early."

Before the Warden could continue his rant, sharp whistling sounds filled the room as magic sparks erupted from the horns of Celestia and Luna. Looks of panic quickly marred their once pleasant features. "If those alarms are going off.........." Celestia began.

"Then the Overlord must have set them off." Luna finished. "ALL GUARDS TO THE DUNGEONS AT ONCE! TIS A GRAVE EMERGENCY THAT MUST BE MET WITH GREAT HASTE!"

Halls upon halls of the palace were filled with thunderous sounds of many hooves hitting marble. Shouts of emergency were accompanied with the clinking of armor and weapons. At the front of these stampeding guardsponies were the Princesses themselves, running as if Cerberus itself was on their tails.

Escaping the confines of his cell wasn't to difficult for the Overlord. Any pony guard he encountered was easily defeated so nothing could deter him from revenge. Eventually the dark one found his way to the Warden's office. Without a second thought he kicked open the door, which splintered to many pieces upon contact. Warden looked up to see the Overlord's hulking figure standing over him. No mercy was given as Warden was assaulted in the most brutal ways possible. Even to be slammed through the wooden desk a couple times.

Once Warden was reduced to a sobbing pile on the floor the Overlord grasped his face with the left gauntlet. The green crystals that encapsulated the Overlord's entire left arm pulsed a sickly green over and over again. Until finally it ceased, leaving the Warden with a pale complexion and unfocused eyes. With a wave of his gauntlet the Overlord commanded the now enslaved warden. Without pause or delay Warden left to do whatever task that his master had given him.

During the whole confrontation the dark one failed to see the quivering figure in the dark corner of the office. Closer inspection revealed a griffon that was clad with shackles and chains. Each chain was bolted to the wall which prevented this griffon from ever leaving this corner. The griffon in question was slender and had purple highlights on some of the feathers so it was presumably female.

As the dark one approached, her shaking only got worse but was attempting to put up a brave front. Since the griffon was a quadruped, her size was greatly dwarfed by the Overlord's hulking form. The dark one kneeled down while reaching an arm out to her. The griffon closed her eyes while thinking 'this is it'. Chains rattled as her shaking became full on quaking and yet, the end never did come.

SNAP!

The griffon immediately opened her eyes as she realized what just happened. The metal collar that shackled her was split in two by this armored behemoth which proceeded to snap another. One by on the metal restraints were torn asunder by this mysterious warrior until freedom was once again hers. The griffon sat there in disbelief at what just happened until the heavy footsteps of her rescuer snapped her out of that daze. She quickly stood up and scurried after the warrior's retreating form.

More guards fell before the might of the Overlord as he journeyed through the dungeons. The she griffons he had saved earlier was following him. To be honest he did not care either way so he mostly ignored her. Once the other prisoners realized what he was doing they shouted from their cells to be set free. Naturally their escape would end up benefiting the dark one in the end so he complied with their requests. The halls soon became cramped with prisoners as they helped each other escape from their cells.

Wards of magic littered every inch of wall space within these dungeons. It took naught but a moment for the Overlord to realize that these were anti teleportation wards. Preventing anything from teleporting in, or out. Eventually the dark one returned to the corridor that housed his prison. These cells had no windows or bars to see through. Upon exploration, many of them were empty, unused or unperturbed. Unfortunately a couple of them housed beings that were bereft of their sanity long ago. Their demise was quick as the Overlord smited each and every single one of them.

One cell's occupant however did not attack. Or more accurately, couldn't. It was a pony with tattered charcoal fur. The pony was suspended in mid air by several chains and had a large bit protruding from it's mouth. It's form was bulky and had a bigger muzzle which identified it as male. He took notice of the Overlord and the griffon following the armored one.

With not much delay the pony was freed from his bonds only to chuck the infernal bit that silenced him. "AHHHH! Such a relief it is to hear my voice again!" The pony screamed out in satisfaction before turning his attention to his rescuer. "Forgive me, where are my manners! I'm Ardent Slickwick, rouge extraordinaire at your service."

Ardent then turned his attention to the griffon behind the warrior. "Why hello hello. What have we here? What's a beautiful hen such as yourself doin in a dank dungeon like this?"

"Stuff it dweeb! I'm not in the mood for this." The griffon practically shouted at Ardent.

"Ooo fiesty. Surely you must have a pretty name to match your beauty." The pony continued.

"I'm warning you." The griffon growled.

"Oh come now. All I did was ask you for your name." The pony slyly countered.

"It's Gilda." The griffon reluctantly answered.

"See. Now was that so hard?" Ardent nonchalantly asked while he lifted Gilda's claw and kissed it. Gilda's reaction wasn't what he was expecting as she punched him in the face with her other claw.

The Overlord wasn't amused by their little squabble and proceeded to leave the cell. Both Ardent and Gilda heard his heavy foot steps and moved to follow him. The rest of the cells were empty until the hallway ended at a wall. Normally it would be a dead end but the wall was adorned with a big locking mechanism. A vibrant sun was etched on the lock and a small hole lay at it's center. When the squabbling pair caught up to the dark one, Ardent took one look at the lock and whistled. "That is a really snazzy horn lock boss. I don't think even I could pick that little beauty."

That didn't deter the dark one as he charged up his arm of crystals. Upon releasing their power a dark green beam hit the keyhole. A magic barrier surrounded the mechanism and both magic forces met head on. The Overlord was forced to channel more magic into his attack to even break through the obstinate barrier. In a great display of power the dark one shattered the magical ward and in doing so, the lock as well.

The resulting destruction caused an powerful shockwave to surge forth through the hall. The blast knocked both Gilda and Ardent Slickwick prone while the Overlord remained upright. However even he was slouched over while holding his left shoulder pauldron. Several crystals that once adorned his arm fell to the ground, shattering upon impact. Little more than half the crystals were lost as their shards littered the floors.

Once the brief respite was over the dark one easily broke through the walls that once denied him entrance. Dark fog permeated through the air once the wall was removed. With neither hesitation nor fear the Overlord entered the darkness.

Unable to see what lay beyond the dark one heard a menacing voice bellow forth.

"Who dares to disturb Nightmare Moon!?!"

Author's Note

Edit 3-31-2022
Hello everyone/everypony. It has been a long time. I am currently writing the next chapter and plan to release it soon.

I've gone back and changed a little details to better suit the coming chapters. For example there only being 1 lock instead of 2.

Stay tuned for the next chapter and I wish you all the best.